Vatican Observatory

I know, this isn't oceanography, but it's well worth watching.  You really can be a devout Catholic, even a priest or religious, and a scientist! The atheist obviously disagrees.  Well, we know he's wrong anyway.

Snow Day

Not a bad snowstorm at all here on Long Island.

Just a note about science fair projects...I posted the revised calendar of due dates in the same folder as all of the other science project materials.  If you're not sure when your project is due, check it out.

Check the awesome imagery from NOAA of the blizzard:
NOAA Visualization Lab

The blizzard is hammering the southeast New England coast with 20-30 foot seas and a storm surge that peaked in some areas last evening at 5 feet! Amazing stuff.

The Battle for Coral Reefs

Kwajalein Atoll
Image Credit - Landsat 7

Here's an article in the current edition of WHOI's (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution's) Oceanus Magazine on the delicate balance it takes to "maintain" a healthy coral reef and how that balance may/will be distrubed in a changing ocean.

Oceanus - Reefs

Painting the Sea

Earlier this year we learned about various microscopic inhabitants of the world; diatoms and coccolithophores, for example.

A NASA instrument picked up these wild colors in the Bering Sea in the neighborhood of the Pribiliof Islands.

Earth Observatory - Phytoplankton

New Marine Reserves

Palymra Atoll

President Obama recently created the largest protected marine reserve in the world.  Other countries have protected part of the ocean as well.  Now Gabon is following suit.

Here's an interesting article and a great map from National Geographic:

Marine Reserves

Here's the article from National Geographic:

Enlarging Remote islands Marine Reserve

The reserve was originally created by then President Bus around 2006.

Acidifying Ocean

Ocean Carbon Cycle

Here's an interesting blog post from Scientific American.  It includes a map of surface ocean pH.  Water chemistry is something we talked about extensively at the beginning of the year.

Blog - Acid Ocean Map

Touchdown!!

After an amazing journey, ESA's Rosetta Probe has planted its lander Philae on the surface of Comet 67P.  Check out the resources below:

- ScienceDaily.com article - ScienceDaily - Rosetta